As with anything man made maintenance is the key to longevity, especially with RV’s. Since every time we drive our RV’s down the road we are subjecting them to earthquake type conditions, especially if the road you’re on is rough. So with each ride things are going to either break or come loose or down right stop working. Now this is not always the case but it happens more often than you think, and if you are an experienced RV’er then you know what I am talking about.
So what is a guy supposed to do to keep his baby in top form for each trip? Well Maintenance is the key here. Now maintenance will vary from RV to RV and what works for one will not necessarily work for another. So with that said I will discuss what I do for maintenance on a regular basis to keep my Class “C” RV in tip top shape, and hopefully avoided the breakdown blues.
To begin with I have developed checklists that I go through as a pre-trip maintenance plan that addresses the most common issues to address before I take the RV out for a trip. These checklists help me to remember to do things like:
- Change the oil on the Chassis
- Change the oil on the Generator
- Clean air filters
- Check roof top seals and repair if necessary
- Service batteries
- Check Propane systems for leaks
- Check water pump and plumbing for leaks
- Check electrical systems in the Coach
- Check electrical systems for the Chassis
- Clean the coach and check all doors and compartments
So I think you get the picture as this list goes on and on. There is also seasonal maintenance that also needs to be done on a RV, and again this will vary from RV to RV, but some of the items I have on my list are:
- Check Roof and seals – Repair where necessary
- Inspect Roof Vents – repair where necessary
- Wash and protect Roof - 2x/yr
- Wax Exterior of RV – 2x/yr
- Wax exterior of Chassis cab – 2x/yr
- Amourall interior leather and Roof
- Clean carpets
- Lubricate Slide seals and tracks – 2x/yr minimum
- Re-Grease Tow Dolly wheel bearings
- Tune-up on Chassis engine
Again you get the idea of what needs to be done on an annual basis. The best thing you can do for your RV is to sit down and take stock of what should be looked at on your RV, pre-Trip and maintenance wise, and then develop checklists to help you remember what needs to be done. All of this stuff is really important to look at and perform the maintenance. If you don’t want to develop your own checklists checkout ours in the Glampur store. Doing regular maintenance will help ensure that you RV will always work when you need it most, and when it needs a little TLC then having good tool kit handy, and spare parts will save you hours of grief or a failed trip.
Happy Trails
The Glampurs